Sakura-Con: The Final Day

Sunday... my last opportunity to bask in the presence of Berryz Kobo. My plan for today was to finish up the note + gift packages that I wanted to give to them, and to go over to their Sunday autograph session; and then after that, to head over to the Berryz booth to watch the raffle drawing.

I didn't have a ticket for the Sunday autographs (I chose the Friday ticket instead.) And because the entire non-priority line was turned away on Friday, I didn't really expect to be able to get more autographs. But I just wanted to see them all one more time, and maybe give my gift packages to Yaz so she could hand them over to the girls for me. If I couldn't give the gifts to Yaz, I planned to give them to the French guy at the Berryz booth (désolé Monsieur, I don't remember your name) who had previously told me that he could accept gifts for the girls.

Things wouldn't quite turn out that way, though... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Anyway, I got up on Sunday morning and finished up the two gift packages that still remained to be done (Yurina's and Risako's.) As I mentioned in my last blog post, my gifts consisted of little notes of appreciation that I wrote to each member, decorated with a "fruit sticker" and enclosing a bookmark that I chose especially for each member (mainly by considering their official Berryz colors along with their favorite colors). Why bookmarks? Because they are small and light, and easily carried from Boston to Seattle to Tokyo Also, I thought they might be a fairly unique gift for them, and perhaps even useful to them in their daily lives. (I would be in heaven if I ever found out that the girls were actually using them...)

The set of fruit stickers I found actually included the correct "representative fruits" for most of the girls: a strawberry (Saki), an orange (Chinami), cherries (Miyabi), a pear for Risako (although I guess it wasn't really a "Chinese" Pear, but close enough), and even a watermelon slice for Maasa. Strangely, there was no peach, nor was there a pink grapefruit, so I had to improvise on those. For Momo, I used an ice cream cone sticker, and I wrote that it was peach ice cream (hey, it was either that, or try to pass off an orange as a peach.) And for Yurina, well... I had to use an orange slice, and just ask her to pretend with me that it was a pink grapefruit half instead... All I can hope is that she thought it was cute.

In the notes, I tried to tell each of them (briefly) what it was that I most appreciated about them... or in some cases I thanked them for something specific that they did during our encounters over the weekend, that I thought was especially nice. For example, I thanked Risako for turning around and waving to my camera at the Guest Reception... and I thanked Chinami for the big smile she gave me during the Friday autograph session... and I thanked Saki and Miya for just being so thoughtful and gracious whenever I interacted with them... they had made me feel so special and appreciated during the previous two days... (and wouldn't you know it, they were about to do it again... but again I'm getting ahead of myself.)

I also wrote to Miya and Momo that I hope they'll come back to America someday with Buono!

I originally wanted to write the notes partly in Japanese, but I just didn't have enough time or enough knowledge of the language to do that (and I'm really out of practice in writing kana characters, too) so I just tried to print them neatly using (mostly) simple English. I bet they'll be able to read some parts of it at least, and maybe someone will help them translate the rest... I hope...?

I also decided to write one additional thank-you note to the group as a whole, where I just basically said "Thank you all for a wonderful weekend!" along with a little bit of gushing about how great they are, and finished off with a "Berryz さいこう！" So at least I did get to include a little Japanese after all!

So after I got that stuff together, I also grabbed the "red" Sakura-Con photoset, just in case I did get a chance for more autographs, and I made my way over to the autograph line. I made sure to head down real early in hopes of being very near the front of the line... again, I kind of doubted that I would actually get more autographs, but I just wanted to have a good view of them while they were signing. So I got there over an hour ahead of time, and there were only about 10 or so people already waiting. So I was pretty happy to be that far in front.

Eventually the girls showed up, and I just gazed at them happily. Momo was seated in the first position this time, and Saki was last. Momo seemed to be in good spirits, and relaxed; I guess maybe she was finally over her jet-lag or whatever was causing her distress earlier in the weekend; and the busiest parts of the weekend were behind her now, so she was probably relieved and happy about that.

I was standing in line next to someone who kept trying to engage me in conversation... he was a real nice guy and everything, but really I just wanted to stare at Berryz Sorry, man!

One thing we all noticed, though, was that the line was moving along at a really good pace. The staff was really trying to keep it moving so that they'd be able to sign autographs for as many people as possible. For example, when people went up with photosets, the staff would distribute the photos to all the members right away, so that the girls further down in line could get started signing them before the fan even got up to them. So we in the "overflow" line were starting to feel hopeful!

At one point, I flagged Yaz down and asked her if she would take my packet of gifts for the girls. She looked at the line, and looked at her watch, and said, "You'll have a chance to do it!" Sweet!

And sure enough, when the last priority ticket holder got his autograph, there was still some time left, so they started sending people from my line. I had arranged all my photos and gift envelopes in the order that I would be seeing the girls, in order to make things go quicker. There really would only be time for "hello" and "thank you" along with a couple of seconds to hand over the gifts. I wanted to make it all as quick as possible so that people behind me would have a chance... especially since I was lucky enough to have already gone through the Friday autograph session, which was done at a much more leisurely pace and allowed me time for some personal interaction beyond just "hello" and "thanks." (And just so you know... on Friday, they had already sent away the "standby" line before I got up to the table, so that's why I wasn't feeling a lot of pressure to rush through on that day.)

So anyway, I finally got up to the table, and my Sunday session started with Momo and I smiling and saying "Hello" to each other. From that point on, most of it was a blur! I remember one of the staff taking the rest of my photocards and distributing them to the other members. Then Momo gave me back the one she signed, and I took it and said "Thank you." Then I took the top envelope from my stack (the one addressed to Momo) and gave it to her, saying "Present for you!" And I don't remember her reaction exactly, but I remember she expressed surprise and smiled and said "Thank you" and I kind of nodded to her and said "Thank you" and moved on to the next member.

That's pretty much how it went with each member that day, and I don't really remember a lot of detail because I was trying to keep moving along quickly (in fact, I was probably moving more quickly than I really needed to... I think I had opened up a gap between myself and the person behind me after the first 2 or 3 girls... but I never really turned to look, because there was so much going on, and I was trying to juggle photocards and gift envelopes, and trying to be courteous about focusing all my attention on the girl in front of me, and trying not to appear as awkward as I felt... although I'm sure I was failing miserably on that last point.)

(And by the way, the envelopes were sealed, and they didn't have time to open them up during the autograph session, so they didn't know what I was giving them...)

So the whole thing was pretty much a blur, although I do remember that each girl was really surprised and grateful to receive a gift (even if they didn't know what it was ), and they all really appreciated the gesture and gave me a heartfelt "Thank You." However, there were two girls whose reactions really stood out as something special. Can you guess who?
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Yes, of course, Miya and Saki!

When I gave my gift to Miya, her jaw dropped a little, and she drew in her breath, put her hand over her heart, and gave me this amazing doe-eyed look of surprise and gratitude, like she was deeply touched by the gesture. It just about froze me right where I stood.

And then when I got to Saki in the last chair, I gave her the envelope that was addressed to her, and the one that was addressed to the whole group. And I said, "Present for you" (indicating hers) "and for all" (indicating the one for the group.) And she got a look on her face similar to the one Miya had, while bringing her hands together in a "praying" gesture... a really gracious and sincere expression of thanks. I was deeply honored and impressed by it, and kind of stunned, too. And I wasn't quite sure how to react to it, so I just kind of awkwardly gave a little nod or bow and quietly said thank you and then wandered off... damn, I wish I were as smooth and suave as the Dos Equis guy...

To be continued...